Braeden Nicholson of Ashland rests easier with month-old Cole in an Arms Reach co-sleeper, a bassinet with a lowered side that attaches to mom's and dad's bed.

"It's so nice and convenient to have him right next to us, but safely in his own sleeping space," says Nicholson after attending a new parents' gathering at Asante Ashland Community Hospital on a recent Wednesday.

Another recommendation? The non-invasive NoseFrida the Snotsucker nasal aspirator, which Nicholson says, "completely, completely clears out the snot, allowing baby to breath, eat and therefore sleep, which means you get to sleep."

Lilliana and Andrew Pellicier of Ashland were also at the new parents' gathering with 11-week-old Archer. Lilliana says she puts a white noise machine to good use. "It blocks sounds so our little guy sleeps better and longer," she says.

"William sleeps great when he's swaddled, but I couldn't figure out how to keep him from breaking out when I wrapped him in a regular swaddling blanket," she says. "The Miracle Blanket is foolproof and we both sleep better because of it."

Mayers also appreciates her glider chair. "I spend hours every day breastfeeding this little guy and having a comfortable chair has been so nice," she says.

Nicholson installed a sofa instead of the customary rocking chair or glider in the nursery when her 2-year-old daughter Zoe was born.

"A sofa is a comfortable place to feed or console babies in the middle of the night and a place for parents to sleep when children are sick and parents need to be nearby," says Nicholson. "As they get older, everyone can cuddle up there together for story time before bed."

Mariah Taylor, another mother in the group, says the most overused item in her Talent home since her son David was born five months ago is not shiny or new. It's a secondhand step stool.

"I used it for my feet when nursing and my partner uses it when rocking the baby to sleep," she says. "Grandparents who have trouble getting up and down from the floor sit on it to play with the baby. Older kids who come to the house use it as a play desk."

The step stool is the perfect height for Taylor to sit on while giving David a bath. "I can reach him better without having to balance on the edge of the tub," she says. "Now that David is trying to crawl, we tip it on its side and he likes to scooch up to it and look at the bright colors and it makes a neat sound when he rubs his hand on it."

In the future, she sees it will come in handy in the bathroom when David wants to reach the sink and sit on the potty.

The multipurpose castoff - "a pregnancy-induced impulse buy that people would look at funny and ask why on earth I had it," she says - is now the most requested item in the house.

What could she live without? Taylor's answer is as unexpected as her praise for the step stool. "It would probably be the nursery," she says, explaining that David sleeps at night on his mattress in his parents' room and enjoys a view of the garden during the day from the living room.

"I spent a lot of time arranging and decorating our office to turn it in to a sanctuary for the baby," Taylor says, "but now it is just a catchall for stuff we don't use."

Nicholson thinks mobiles and changing tables are unnecessary. A regular dresser with a changing pad on top works for her and she can still use the dresser as her children get older.

Lilliana Pellicier says she gave a wipe warmer away. "We prefer to take Archer to the sink and not expose him to chemicals from wipes," she says, "plus we are not creating more waste using as many wipes as we would have to."

And just to point out that every baby is different, Mayers says little Williams objected to his co-sleeper bassinet from day one. "So he ended up sleeping either in bed with us or in the Rock 'n Play, which is basically a portable bassinet."

The co-sleeper bassinet is being used as an expensive storage place for Mayers' clothes. "Hopefully, he will come to like it at some point," she sighs.